Data verification in transactions in distributed network

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for verifying a financial transaction based on an account number, a mobile directory number associated with the financial transaction, a mobile directory number associated with the account number, an email address associated with the account number, internet protocol address data associated with the financial transaction, and internet protocol address data associated with accesses of the email address.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/223,671 filed Jul. 7, 2009, and entitled,“Mobile Directory Number Verification of Financial Transactions” andU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/223,677 filed Jul. 7,2009, and entitled, “Email Verification of Financial Transactions,” bothof which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Card-not-present (CNP) and card-present (CP) financial fraud is anincreasing problem that plagues the financial industry. For CNPtransactions, the customer's card is not physically available for amerchant to inspect. The merchant must rely on the cardholder (orsomeone purporting to be the cardholder) to present the information onthe card by some indirect means, whether by mail, telephone or over theInternet when the cardholder is not present at the point of sale.Although more and more CNP fraud solutions continue to be introducedsuch as Address Verification Service (AVS), Visa® Advanced Authorization(VAA), and MasterCard SecureCode®, online fraud continues to grow at arapid pace. For CP transactions, the customer's card is available for amerchant to inspect, but various means of counterfeiting cards haveemerged. Multiple CP fraud solutions continue to be introduced, such aspredictive analytics solutions, decisioning solutions and rules-basedsolutions. However, CP fraud also continues to grow.

Card-based financial fraud may occur, for example, when a paymentinstrument is stolen. Payment instruments include credit card accountnumbers, debit card account numbers and the like. Using stolen accountnumbers, purchases may be made or new fraudulent accounts may beestablished using additional personal data, whether that personal datais legitimate or not. Furthermore, fraudulent merchant accounts may beestablished based on collusion of fraudulent buyers and sellers usingstolen payment instruments. Moreover, financial fraud using stolenpayment instruments may occur for a variety of circumstances, including,but not limited to, first-time orders on a merchant website where a newaccount profile is registered, first-time orders on a merchant websitewhere account profiles are not required to be registered and subsequentorders on a merchant website with an existing account profile where theexisting account profile has been previously used.

Among the primary characteristics of financial fraud solutions is themeans to both properly identify, and verify that means ofidentification, for a person engaging in a financial transaction. Amongthe unique identifiers for a person engaging in a financial transactionare the person's mobile directory number (MDN) and the person's emailaddress. The use of mobile phones and email have proliferated over thepast two decades. More and more people are associating these identifierswith their financial account profiles for a variety of reasons. Manypeople use mobile phones exclusively or as their primary means ofcommunication with others and electronic commerce (e-commerce) hasbecome a primary means for purchasing retail products over the Internet.

A telephone directory number is the actual dialable phone number used tocall a person on a telephone. An MDN is the dialable phone number usedto call a person on a mobile phone. Email addresses are typicallyrequired to be provided to an online merchant when making a retailpurchase over the Internet. In many cases, these unique means ofcommunicating with individuals are also associated with personalinformation associated with a financial account, such as a debit card orcredit card account with a bank or financial institution. Many financialinstitutions require telephone numbers, email addresses or both to beassociated with a person's account so they can be contacted by theinstitution for a variety of purposes, such as marketing of bankproducts, alerting for changes in account status, when financial fraudis suspected or other reasons.

Telephone directory numbers and MDNs can be up to 15 digits long and areunique numbers worldwide. These numbers are associated with both aunique individual as well as a telecommunications network carrier thatservices particular numbers. Similarly, email addresses are alsoassociated with both a unique individual and an email service provider.Because of this uniqueness, telephone numbers (both mobile and wireline)as well as email addresses can be considered an extension of the uniqueidentity of a person in many cases.

Furthermore, the 15-digit directory number format for all directorynumbers worldwide (both mobile and wireline) is internationallystandardized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) inITU-T Recommendation E.164—The International Public TelecommunicationNumbering Plan. The format of this standardized number is comprised of a1- to 3-digit country code (CC) and a national significant number. Thenational significant number is comprised of a national destination code(NDC) and a subscriber number (SN). As the country code and the nationaldestination code are geographically based, access to these numbers mayprovide geographic information that may be pertinent to the identity andwhereabouts of a person associated with the numbers.

Moreover, the email address format for all email addresses worldwide isinternationally standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force inRequest For Comment (RFC) 5321 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol and RFC5322 Internet Message Format. The format of this standardized emailaddress is “local-part@domain.” The value of the “local-part” portion ofthe address typically indicates the name of an individual that is theemail user, but can take on a variety characters. The value of the“domain” portion of the address typically indicates the name of anorganization associated with the email user, but can also take on avariety characters. As the “local-part” and “domain” are typicallyname-based, the character strings that make up the entire email addressmay provide information that is pertinent to the identity of a personassociated with the address.

Card associations and payment networks, such as Visa®, MasterCard®,American Express®, Discover® and others, rely on a combination of frauddetection tools to combat financial fraud. For example, an analysis ofInternet data and order parameters as well as address verification,customer behavior analysis, screening mechanisms, rules basedalgorithms, etc. may lead to the conclusion that a particular onlineorder is suspect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide asystem, and its methods of use, to detect fraudulent transactions basedon information derived from a payment network pertaining to paymenttransactions, information derived from a wireless network pertaining toparticular wireless device IDs (e.g. mobile directory numbers) andinformation derived from a financial institution pertaining tocardholders associated with financial accounts. The invention relatesgenerally to protecting the identity of a cardholder and detectingidentity theft by using the wireless device ID of the cardholder'swireless device (e.g. mobile phone) and validating that wireless deviceID using data obtained from a payment network and a financialinstitution pertaining to the cardholder. This data may be used tovalidate the wireless device ID obtained from the payment network wheresuch validation may be used for a variety of applications, such asassisting in the detection and prevention of identity theft, fraudulentbehavior or activity that may be engaged in by a purported cardholder.

Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide asystem, and its methods of use, to detect fraudulent transactions basedon information derived from a payment network pertaining to paymenttransactions, information derived from a wireless network pertaining toparticular wireless device IDs (e.g. MDNs) and information derived froma financial institution pertaining to cardholders associated withfinancial accounts. Data pertaining to the wireless device ID obtainedfrom a wireless network 102 and data pertaining to the cardholderobtained from a financial institution can be used as the basis for astatistical analysis, resulting in an identity risk value. Data that maybe obtained and derived include the wireless device ID (e.g. the MDN)itself, other telephone numbers (directory numbers) associated with theaccount, location data of the wireless device identified by the wirelessdevice ID, supplementary subscription data associated with the wirelessdevice, the format and characteristics of the wireless device ID and theformat and characteristics of other directory numbers. All location dataobtained or otherwise derived from telephone directory numbers providesutility for fraud detection as irregular or anomalous locationsassociated with an individual may be indicative of financial fraud.Furthermore, supplementary subscription data associated with thewireless device, such as the network serving the wireless device, age ofthe subscription, name on the subscription, porting history of thedirectory number, and subscribed supplementary features (e.g. callforwarding), may be indicative of financial fraud. This data may be usedfor a variety of applications, such as assisting in the detection andprevention of identity theft, fraudulent behavior or activity that maybe engaged in by a purported cardholder.

Yet another object of an embodiment of the present invention is toprovide a system, and its methods of use, to detect fraudulenttransactions based on information derived from a payment networkpertaining to payment transactions, information derived from a financialinstitution pertaining to cardholders associated with financial accountsand information derived from an email service provider pertaining toparticular email addresses and Internet Protocol (IP) data pertaining tocardholders associated with email accounts. This data may be used tovalidate the email address data obtained from the payment network wheresuch validation may be used for a variety of applications, such asassisting in the detection and prevention of identity theft, fraudulentbehavior or activity that may be engaged in by a purported cardholder.

Yet another object of an embodiment of the present invention is toprovide a system, and its methods of use, to detect fraudulenttransactions based on information derived from a payment networkpertaining to payment transactions, information derived from a financialinstitution pertaining to cardholders associated with financial accountsand information derived from an email service provider pertaining toparticular email addresses and Internet Protocol (IP) data pertaining tocardholders associated with email accounts. Data pertaining to the emailaddresses obtained from a financial institution and data pertaining tothe cardholder obtained from an email service provider can be used asthe basis for a statistical analysis, resulting in an identity riskvalue. Data that may be obtained and derived include the email address,IP address data associated with the email address and the format andcharacteristics of the email address itself. All location data obtainedor otherwise derived from IP address data provides utility for frauddetection as irregular or anomalous locations associated with anindividual may be indicative of financial fraud as IP address data maybe indicative of location data where an email account has been accessedby an individual. This data may be used for a variety of applications,such as assisting in the detection and prevention of identity theft,fraudulent behavior or activity that may be engaged in by a purportedcardholder.

Yet another object of an embodiment of the present invention is toprovide a system, and its method of use, for detecting identity theftbased on analysis of a multiplicity of provided and stored parametersassociated with derived locations, historical locations, supplementarysubscription data about a wireless device ID (e.g. MDN) associated witha wireless device, historical use of a particular wireless device ID,derived data about an email address, historical use of an email address,IP address data and historical patterns of locations and use of MDNs andemail addresses.

A further exemplary embodiment of the present invention applies to andhas utility for detecting and preventing identity theft. Identity theftoccurs, for example, when an individual's identity credentials arecompromised, or otherwise stolen, by perpetrators of fraud. Theseperpetrators use the identity credentials of individual victims toobtain some financial or other benefit at a cost to the victim.

By recognizing patterns when analyzing at least one of the locationsand/or data associated with cardholders' wireless devices, telephonedirectory numbers, email addresses, IP addresses where email accountsare used and supplementary subscription data associated with a wirelessor mobile phone subscription, statistical models can be derived and usedto determine a probability that a purported wireless device or emailuser is engaged in either some usual and regular behavior or potentiallyirregular or anomalous behavior. Irregular or anomalous behavior may bean indication that identity theft has occurred and probabilistictechniques and models to determine incidents of identity theft may becreated to detect, with some degree of accuracy, that identity theft hasin fact occurred.

These and other examples of the invention will be described in furtherdetail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention aredescribed in detail below with reference to the following drawings:

FIG. 1 depicts the functional entities and modules of an exemplaryMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System formedin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Included inthe example is a Transaction Verification Processing Module, a WirelessDevice Location Module, an Identity Database, one or more WirelessNetwork Data Logic Resources and one or more Email Data Logic Resourcesin accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary Identity Database used to associate uniquefinancial account (card) numbers, wireless device IDs (e.g. MDNs) andemail addresses with wireless network derived location data, wirelessnetwork derived supplemental data (e.g. subscription data), emailservice provider data and identity risk values.

FIG. 3 depicts exemplary Wireless Network Data Logic Resources includingwireless device location data, wireless network supplemental data (e.g.subscription data) and one or more logic resources.

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary Email Data Logic Resources including IP addressdata and one or more logic resources.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary flow diagram of the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System using Wireless Network DataLogic Resources.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary flow diagram of the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System using Email Data LogicResources.

FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary information flow chart disclosing operationof the embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System using Wireless Network Data Logic Resources.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary information flow chart disclosing operationof the embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System using Email Data Logic Resources.

FIG. 9 depicts computer system components of an exemplary MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System including acomputer processor, communications interface and memory components wherethe exemplary functional entities and modules of the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System reside in an exampleembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 depicts the functional entities and modules of an exemplaryMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100.FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system for Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification. (The System 100 may also be referred toas a Mobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System.)Embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100, based upon information received from a paymentnetwork 118, a wireless network 102, an account holder profile at afinancial institution 116 and an account holder profile at an emailservice provider 114, and optionally other information, assess thelikelihood that a financial transaction is fraudulent.

Examples of financial transactions that may cause information to bereceived from a payment network 118 include the purchase of a product orservice using a credit card or the like, where the product or service ispurchased by an account holder at a particular location (point ofpurchase) or at a remote location (such as a “mail order” purchase,“telephone order” purchase or purchase from an Internet website). Pointof purchase transactions may include, for example, use of a debit cardor credit card to obtain cash from an automatic teller machine (ATM) oruse of a debit card or credit card to purchase products or services at apoint of sale employing an electronic point of sale terminal. It isappreciated that embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100 may be configured to provide anassessment of the likelihood of fraud for any type of financialtransaction.

Included in the example is an exemplary Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 used to verify financialtransactions based on a mobile directory number (MDN) received from oneof a payment network 118, an account holder profile from a financialinstitution 116 or both. Similarly, the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 may be used to verifyfinancial transactions based on an email address, IP address data orboth received from one of a payment network 118, an account holderprofile from a financial institution 116 or both. The example depicts aTransaction Verification Processing Module 104, a Wireless DeviceLocation Module 112, an Identity Database 106, one or more WirelessNetwork Data Logic Resources 108 and one or more Email Data LogicResources 110 in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention.

The Wireless Device Location Module 112 supports communications used toreceive, or request and receive, location data and supplementarywireless network data, such as wireless device subscription dataassociated with a particular wireless device, from the wireless network102.

The Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 obtains financialtransaction data from a payment network 118 that may be associated witha financial transaction made by an account holder. The TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 also obtains account number data andoptionally one or more of mobile directory number (MDN) data, emailaddress data and IP address data associated with the account holdermaking the financial transaction. The account number data, MDN data,email address data and IP address data may have been previously providedto the payment network 118 in a variety of ways. The account numberdata, MDN data and email address data may be provided directly by anaccount holder, for example, into an Internet website form displayed ona computing device 120 while making a purchase for a product or service.This same data may also be provided indirectly by an online merchantduring the purchase process that may, for example, be stored by theonline merchant as part of the account holder's registered accountprofile. Additionally, IP address data may be provided, for example,directly by an online merchant which may be obtained from a computersuch as the computing device 120 associated with an online Internetsession with the online merchant.

The Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 receives the accountnumber data, optional MDN data, optional email address data and optionalIP address data pertaining to a financial transaction and passes thisdata to the Identity Database 106. This data pertaining to the accountholder making the financial transaction may or may not have beenpreviously stored in the Identity database 106. The Identity Database106 stores the received data for use in the financial transactionverification process. The Transaction Verification Processing Module 104sends the received account number data pertaining to a financialtransaction to the financial institution 116, along with a request foradditional account profile data associated with the account holder. Thefinancial institution 116 maintains an account profile for the accountnumber associated with the account holder making the financialtransaction. The additional account profile data requested from thefinancial institution 116 may include one or more of the previouslystored account holder's MDN, other phone numbers associated with theaccount (such as additional mobile, home or business phone numbers) andone or more email addresses. The financial institution 116 responds tothis request for data by sending one or more of the previously storedaccount holder's MDN, other phone numbers associated with the accountand one or more email addresses. When the Transaction VerificationProcessing Module 104 receives this additional account profile data, itpasses the data to the Identity Database 106 for storage and use for thefinancial transaction verification process.

A first embodiment of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 may be based upon a query-response communicationmechanism between the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 and the payment network 118 that requestsvalidation of the MDN supplied and associated with a financialtransaction. If an MDN associated with a financial transaction isobtained via the payment network 118 and an MDN associated with thefinancial account corresponding to the financial transaction is obtainedvia the account holder profile from the financial institution 116, theobtained MDNs may be analyzed and compared. This analysis and comparisonmay be performed by the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104itself or another module within the Mobile Directory Number and EmailVerification System 100 without deviating from the principles of thepresent invention. The financial transaction may be verified if theresult of the analysis and comparison reveals that the received MDNs areidentical. If the obtained MDNs are not identical, an indication thatthe financial transaction was performed by an individual other than theactual account holder may be deduced. At this point, an indication thatthe financial transaction is either verified or not verified may bepassed to the payment network 118, which may or may not result in thefinancial transaction being either authorized or declined.

Furthermore, the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 may be based upon a query-response communicationmechanism between the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 and the payment network 118 that requestsvalidation of the email address supplied and associated with a financialtransaction. If an email address associated with the financialtransaction is obtained via the payment network 118 and an email addressassociated with the financial account corresponding to the financialtransaction is obtained via the account holder profile from thefinancial institution 116, the obtained email addresses may be analyzedand compared. This analysis and comparison may be performed by theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104 itself or another modulewithin the Mobile Directory Number and Email Verification System 100without deviating from the principles of the present invention. Thefinancial transaction may be verified if the result of the analysis andcomparison reveals that received email addresses are identical. If theobtained email addresses are not identical, an indication that thefinancial transaction was performed by an individual other than theactual account holder may be deduced. At this point, an indication thatthe financial transaction is either verified or not verified may bepassed to the payment network 118, which may or may not result in thefinancial transaction being either authorized or declined.

The first embodiment generally does not require location data, or otherwireless network supplementary subscription data for the provided MDN.Furthermore, the first embodiment generally does not require IPaddress-based location data for the provided email address. Thisembodiment functions without the need for wireless network connectivityfor location queries or supplementary wireless network subscription dataqueries associated with the MDN and without the need for email serviceprovider connectivity for historical IP address data. If the MDN, emailaddress or both is deemed valid and a match with the respective MDN,email address or both associated with the financial transaction, then nofurther action may need to be taken.

An alternate embodiment includes the addition of wireless networklocation data and/or wireless network supplementary subscription dataobtained from a wireless network 102, other telephone directory numberdata associated with the MDN of the account holder obtained from thefinancial institution 116 and IP address data obtained from the emailservice provider 114 as part of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100. This alternate embodiment includesconnectivity to the wireless network 102 serving the wireless device 124associated with the MDN and/or connectivity to the email serviceprovider 114 associated with the email address. This alternateembodiment has the benefit of adding value to the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100 for theverification and analysis of an MDN and/or email address associated witha financial transaction provided in the first embodiment.

In an alternate embodiment, once data has been received by the paymentnetwork 118 pertaining to a particular financial transaction and alsoreceived by the financial institution account holder profile asdescribed in the first embodiment of the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100, a request may be made to thewireless network 102 for location data and supplementary subscriptiondata for the provided MDN. This request may be made, for example, by theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104 via the Wireless DeviceLocation Module 112 using the MDN obtained, for example, from thepayment network 118 or the account holder profile from the financialinstitution 116. The Transaction Verification Processing Module 104passes the wireless device ID (e.g. the MDN) associated with thefinancial transaction to the Wireless Device Location Module 112 that isused to obtain the location of a wireless device such as the wirelessdevice 124, for example, and optionally supplementary data associatedwith a wireless network subscription, from the wireless network 102. TheWireless Device Location Module 112 requests wireless device locationdata and/or wireless network supplementary subscription data from thewireless network 102. The wireless network 102 may obtain this data, forexample, from a network supplemental information system 126. Thewireless network 102 responds to the request from the Wireless DeviceLocation Module 112 for wireless device location data and/or wirelessnetwork supplementary subscription data. Wireless device location dataprovided from the wireless network 102 may include current or last knownlocation data pertaining to the wireless device 124.

Moreover, once data has been received by the payment network 118pertaining to a particular financial transaction and also received bythe financial institution account holder profile as described in thefirst embodiment of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100, a request may be made to the email serviceprovider 114 for historical IP address data for the provided emailaddress. This request may be made, for example, by the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 using the email address obtained, forexample, from the payment network 118 or the account holder profile atthe financial institution 116. The Transaction Verification ProcessingModule 104 passes the email address associated with the financialtransaction to the email service provider 114 to request historical IPaddress data from the email service provider 114. The email serviceprovider 114 may obtain this data, for example, from the account holderprofile associated with the email address. The email service provider114 responds to the request from the Transaction Verification ProcessingModule 104 with IP address data associated with the provided emailaddress. IP address data provided from the email service provider mayinclude previous IP addresses from which the email account associatedwith the provided email address was accessed and the date and timeassociated with the IP address from which the email account wasaccessed.

Non-limiting examples of wireless device location data that may beavailable and obtained from the wireless network 102 pertaining to theMDN obtained from the payment network 118 or obtained from the accountholder profile at the financial institution 116 include:

-   -   Location area. A location area is the area associated with a        mobile switching center (MSC) serving cell sites subtending the        MSC which service wireless devices identified, for example, by        an MDN. A location area may be represented by a location area        code (LAC) and an MSC may be represented by an MSCID.    -   Cell identity (e.g. CID, in longitude and latitude or other        location context) of the cell site serving wireless devices        identified, for example, by an MDN.    -   Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates (e.g. in longitude        and latitude or other location context) for wireless devices        identified, for example, by an MDN.    -   Wireless network base station identifier associated with a        wireless network access point (e.g. in longitude and latitude or        other location context) serving wireless devices. A wireless        network access point may be, for example, a WiFi access point,        WiMAX access point or any other access point that may provide        service to a wireless device.    -   Date and time the provided wireless device location data was        recorded by the wireless network 102.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate theseexample types of wireless device location data that may be obtained froma wireless network 102 and the formats for which this data is provided.

Non-limiting examples of one or more of the following wireless networksupplementary subscription data may be available and obtained from thewireless network 102 or from other telecommunications networks. Thesupplementary subscription data may pertain to other obtained directorynumbers associated with the account holder that were obtained via theaccount holder profile at the financial institution 116, to the MDNobtained from the payment network 118, or to the MDN obtained from theaccount holder profile at the financial institution 116. Thesenon-limiting examples include:

-   -   Directory number assigned and in use. For any obtained mobile or        wireline directory number, it may be determined whether that        directory number is assigned to, and being used by, a        subscriber.    -   Directory number a mobile number or a wireline number. For any        obtained directory number, it may be determined whether that        directory number is assigned to a wireless network subscriber or        a wireline network subscriber.    -   Network serving the directory number. For any obtained directory        number, it may be determined which network provides service to        that number.    -   If the directory number is an MDN, current status of the        wireless device 124. For MDNs, it may be determined whether the        wireless device is currently turned on and being served by a        wireless network or not.    -   If the directory number is an MDN, it may be determined whether        the wireless device 124 is in the home service area or roaming        into another service area or a visited network.    -   If the directory number is an MDN and the wireless device is        roaming, it may be determined which visited network is serving        the wireless device 124.    -   If the directory number is an MDN and the wireless device is        roaming, it may be determined which country the visited network        serving the wireless device 124 is in.    -   Name on the directory number associated with the network        subscription. For any obtained directory number, the        subscriber's name associated with the subscription may be        determined.    -   Age of the directory number subscription. For any obtained        directory number, the length of time the current subscriber has        been associated with the subscription may be determined.    -   Porting history of the directory number. For any obtained        directory number, the porting history of the number may be        obtained. The porting history may provide the networks that have        served the directory number in the past and whether these        networks were wireless networks or wireline networks.    -   Pre-paid payment status of the subscription. For any obtained        directory number, the pre-paid payment status of the number may        be obtained.    -   Post-paid payment status of the subscription. For any obtained        directory number, the post-paid payment status of the number may        be obtained.    -   Supplementary subscription features associated with the        directory number associated with the wireless device 124. For        any obtained directory number, subscribed features associated        with the network subscription may be obtained, such as call        forwarding.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate theseexample types of wireless supplementary subscription data that may beobtained from a wireless network 102 or other telecommunicationsnetworks, and the methods and formats for which this data is provided.

Non-limiting examples of one or more of the following geographiclocation data that may be derived from the format of the obtained MDN,or other obtained directory numbers associated with the account holderand obtained via the account holder profile at the financial institution116, are:

-   -   Country code (CC) of the directory number. For any obtained        directory number, the CC representing the country where the        directory number is assigned may be determined.    -   National destination code (NDC). For any obtained directory        number, the NDC representing a geographical area within a        country where the directory number is assigned may be        determined.

The derivation of geographic location data from the CC and/or NDC of oneor more obtained directory numbers may occur, for example, at theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104 itself or another modulewithin the Mobile Directory Number and Email Verification System 100without deviating from the principles of the present invention. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate these exampletypes of data that may be derived about the format of a directory numberand the methods for which this data is derived.

Non-limiting examples of one or more of the following IP address datamay be available and obtained from an email service provider pertainingto the email address obtained from the payment network 118 or obtainedfrom the account holder profile at the financial institution 116 are:

-   -   IP address. IP addresses are typically geographically based and        of the form XX.XX.XX.XX.    -   Date and time that access to the email account associated with        the provided IP address was recorded by the email service        provider 114.

The derivation of geographic location data from the IP address mayoccur, for example, at the Transaction Verification Processing Module104 itself or another module within the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Verification System 100 without deviating from the principles ofthe present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand and appreciate these example types of data that may bederived about the format of an IP address and the methods for which thisdata is derived.

Non-limiting examples of one or more of the following identityinformation data that may be derived from the format of an obtainedemail address associated with an account holder and pertaining to theemail address obtained from the payment network 118 or obtained from anaccount holder profile at the financial institution 116 are:

-   -   Local-part of the email address. For any obtained email address,        the local-part representing the user name of the email account        may be determined.    -   Domain of the email address. For any obtained email address, the        domain representing the organization name of the email account        may be determined.

The derivation of identity data from the local-part and/or domain of oneor more obtained email addresses may occur, for example, at theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104 itself or another modulewithin the Mobile Directory Number and Email Verification System 100without deviating from the principles of the present invention. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand and appreciate these exampletypes of data that may be derived about the format of an email addressand the methods for which this data is derived.

When the wireless device location data, wireless network supplementarysubscription data and other directory numbers associated with theaccount holder are obtained, the Wireless Device Location Module 112passes the wireless device location data and wireless networksupplementary subscription data associated with the MDN to the IdentityDatabase 106 directly or indirectly via the Transaction VerificationProcessing Module 104 for storage and use for the financial transactionverification process. The geographic location data derived from theformat of the obtained directory numbers (e.g. CC and NDC), are alsopassed to the Identity Database 106 for storage and use for thefinancial transaction verification process.

Similarly, when the appropriate IP address data are received from theemail service provider 114 pertaining to the email address associatedwith a financial transaction and the account holder, the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 passes the obtained IP address dataand email address data associated with the email address to the IdentityDatabase 106, directly or indirectly, for storage and use for thefinancial transaction verification process.

The Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 and the IdentityDatabase 106 provide the appropriate data and parameters associated withthe MDN to the Wireless Network Data Logic Resources 108 to determine anIdentity Risk Value 216 associated with a financial transaction and anindividual associated with the financial transaction and represented bythe MDN. Similarly, the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104and the Identity Database 106 provide the appropriate data andparameters associated with the email address to the Email Data LogicResources 110 to determine an Identity Risk Value 216 associated with afinancial transaction and an individual associated with the financialtransaction and represented by the email address. The Identity RiskValue 216 may be determined using data and parameters in a manner asdescribed with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4, for example.

The data may be provided directly to one or more Wireless Network DataLogic Resources 108 and/or one or more Email Data Logic Resources 110 bythe appropriate modules or databases, or via the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104. One or more Wireless Network DataLogic Resources 108 and/or one or more Email Data Logic Resources 110are used to calculate, generate or otherwise determine an Identity RiskValue 216 pertaining to the financial transaction. If both WirelessNetwork Data Logic Resources 108 and Email Data Logic Resources are usedindependently to calculate, generate or otherwise determine an IdentityRisk Value 216 pertaining to the financial transaction, the resultingmultiple identity risk values may be, for example, statistically merged,averaged or otherwise combined into a single identity risk value.Alternatively, if both Wireless Network Data Logic Resources 108 andEmail Data Logic Resources are used independently to calculate, generateor otherwise determine an Identity Risk Value 216 pertaining to thefinancial transaction, the resulting multiple identity risk values maybe preserved as independent results. The calculations may includestatistical and probabilistic algorithms to generate or otherwisedetermine identity risk values, thereby indicating the level of risk ofa financial transaction and whether it is likely or not that thefinancial transaction may be fraudulent. Once the identity risk valuesare calculated, generated or otherwise determined, they are passed tothe Identity Database 106 directly or indirectly via the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 for storage and use for the financialtransaction verification process. The Transaction VerificationProcessing Module 104 may then pass the identity risk values associatedwith a particular financial transaction to the payment network 118 aspart of the query-response communication between the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100 and the paymentnetwork 118. The identity risk values pertaining to the financialtransaction that are passed to the payment network 118 may or may notresult in the financial transaction being either authorized or declined.

The stored identity risk values associated with a wireless device ID(e.g. MDN) and/or an email address may subsequently be accessed and usedin additional statistical and probabilistic algorithms or calculationsfor utility, for example, in determining irregular or fraudulentbehavior associated with other transactions.

The alternate embodiment of the present invention may be used inconjunction with the first embodiment of the present invention as afurther analysis to attempt to verify the financial transaction, or thealternate embodiment of the present invention may be used regardless ofwhether the first embodiment of the present invention is employed.

It should be understood that the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100 shown in FIG. 1 can be implementedusing a computer system 122 having at least one processor, at least onememory component in signal communication with the processor, and atleast one communications interface in signal communication with theprocessor. The Identity Database 106, the Wireless Network Data LogicResources 108 and the Email Data Logic Resources 110 can be stored inthe memory, for example. Programming instructions can also be stored inmemory that when run by the processor cause the processor to beconfigured to implement the functions of the Transaction VerificationProcessing Module 104 and the Wireless Device Location Module 112. Insome embodiments, the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 andthe Wireless Device Location Module 112 can be implemented withdifferent processors. The communications interface can allow theprocessor to communicate with the wireless network 102 when running theprocesses of the Wireless Device Location Module 112. The communicationsinterface can also allow the processor to receive data from the paymentnetwork 118, the financial institution 116 and the email serviceprovider 114 as well as to send identity risk value results to othersystems. The results can be sent to systems that triggered a financialtransaction or to other systems. In some embodiments, more than onecommunications interface can be used. It should also be understood thatthe Mobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System100 can be implemented in a distributed manner using a plurality ofcomputer systems such as the computer system 122 shown in FIG. 9, forexample.

Generally, the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 is used in a process of verifying an electronicfinancial transaction where one or more locations of the wireless device124 and supplementary wireless network subscription data that areobtained or derived from a wireless network 102, one or more locationsderived from other telephone directory numbers that are obtained from anaccount holder profile at the financial institution 116 and IP addressdata that are obtained from an account holder profile at the emailservice provider 114 are incorporated into the Wireless Network DataLogic Resources 108 and Email Data Logic Resources 110 to generate anidentity risk value, to assist in creating a statistical model that candetermine a likelihood that a financial transaction is fraudulent. TheMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100can be used with any type of electronic financial transaction. Twonon-limiting example types of financial transactions of interest arecard-not-present (CNP) and card present (CP) financial transactions.

The financial transaction can be triggered by various types of financialapplications. For example, a consumer desiring to make a purchase,withdraw money, transfer money between accounts, etc. can initiate anelectronic financial transaction by using a computer network such as theInternet. For CNP financial transactions, the consumer can enter paymentinformation such as a credit card or debit card account number, theconsumer's MDN, the consumer's email address, the consumer's name andthe consumer's address using an input device in signal communicationwith a computer used by the consumer. The payment information can thenbe transmitted to a computerized payment network 118 associated with abank. For CP financial transactions, the consumer can use a paymentinstrument, such as a credit card or debit card, containing an accountnumber at an electronic point-of-sale terminal associated with a retailmerchant. The payment information can then be transmitted to acomputerized payment network 118 associated with a bank. The paymentnetwork 118 can generate a financial transaction by sending financialtransaction data that includes the consumer's MDN to the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100. TheMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100receives the financial transaction data through the communicationsinterface. A processor configured to implement the functions of theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104 and the Wireless DeviceLocation Module 112 requests information pertaining to a deviceassociated with the consumer's MDN from the wireless network 102. Thisinformation may include a location of the device, for example. Theprocessor generates identity risk values based on at least one of theWireless Network Data Logic Resources 108, Email Data Logic Resources110 and Identity Database 106. The processor then sends a response basedon the identity risk value back to the payment network 118. Based uponthe received information provided by the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100, the payment network 118, apayment processing system associated with the payment network 118 or theretail merchant generates an acceptance decision based on the responseand, in some cases, other predetermined criteria. If the acceptancedecision is positive, the payment network 118, a payment processingsystem associated with the payment network 118 or the retail merchantallows the transaction to proceed and the consumer is notified that thefinancial transaction was successful, such as by displaying aconfirmation number on a display device in signal communication with thecomputer used by the consumer. If the acceptance decision is negative,the payment network 118, a payment processing system associated with thepayment network 118 or the retail merchant may not allow the financialtransaction to proceed and notifies the consumer in a similar manner.

Embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 may be used to assess the likelihood of fraud ofa financial transaction before the financial transaction is in progress,while the financial transaction is in progress and/or make an assessmentafter the financial transaction has concluded. For example,pre-authorization may be used to verify the identity of the purchaserprior to delivery of a goods or service to the purchaser. If thefinancial transaction pertains to a point of purchase transaction, aprior transaction approval process could be completed before thepurchaser leaves the premises. As another non-limiting example, if thefinancial transaction pertains to an Internet purchase transaction, thetransaction approval process could be completed before the purchasedgoods are mailed to the purchaser.

In the various embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100, the likelihood of fraud of aparticular financial transaction is assessed in response to receiving arequest from a transaction entity that is conducting, or is associatedwith, the financial transaction. Non-limiting examples of transactionentities include payment networks, banks, credit card companies,Internet service providers and sellers of goods and/or services.

FIG. 2 depicts exemplary entries in the exemplary Identity Database 106(FIG. 1). In particular a first entry includes an association among anAccount Number 202, a Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. in this case an MDN),wireless network derived Location Data 206, wireless network derivedHistorical Location Data 208 including a historical location and thedate and time the historical location was derived, wireless networkderived Carrier Supplemental Data 210 (e.g. in this case supplementarysubscription data), an Email Address 212, email address Historical IPAddress Data 214 including a historical IP address and the date and timethe historical IP address was used to access an email account associatedwith the email address 212 and an Identity Risk Value 216. The AccountNumber 202 is received from the payment network 118 shown in FIG. 1 whena request is made to the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 to verify a transaction. The Wireless Device ID204 is used by the Wireless Device Location Module 106 in FIG. 1 toeither request the Location Data 206 from the wireless network 102 orautonomously receive the Location Data 206 from the wireless network102. The obtained Location Data 206 is then associated with somelocation context or geographic place, additional obtained CarrierSupplemental Data 210 as well as the Historical Location Date and Time208 in the database. The entries for Carrier Supplemental Data 210 maybe pre-populated or otherwise derived or obtained from the wirelessnetwork 102 or supporting communications data networks. The EmailAddress 212 is used by the Transaction Verification Processing Module104 shown in FIG. 1 to either request the IP Address Data 214 from theemail service provider 114 or autonomously receive the IP Address Data214 from the email service provider 114. The obtained IP Address Data214 is then associated with some location context or geographic place aswell as the IP Address Date and Time 214 in the database.

The Historical Location Date and Time 208 contains entries representingthe date and time of a particular obtained wireless device location toassist in determining, for example, an Identity Risk Value 216. The IPAddress Data Date and Time 214 contains entries representing the dateand time the email account associated with the email address 212 wasaccessed to assist in determining, for example, the Identity Risk Value216.

The Identity Risk Value 216 for the associated Account Number 202 isgenerated due to some previous financial transaction or process and maytake on a null or default value if a value has not previously beencalculated. The Identity Risk Value 216 may be used in one or moreWireless Network Data Logic Resources 108 (FIG. 1), one or more EmailData Logic Resources 110 (FIG. 1) or both to generate subsequentIdentity Risk Values that may be stored in the exemplary IdentityDatabase 106.

FIG. 3 depicts exemplary entries for one or more exemplary WirelessNetwork Data Logic Resources 108 shown in FIG. 1. The entries includeWireless Network Data Logic Resources Location Data 302 and WirelessNetwork Data Logic Resources Supplemental Data 304. The location data302 and/or the supplemental data 304 are used to provide information anddata to Logic Resources 306 that indicate particular data parameters andfactors for the data parameters used by the Wireless Network Data LogicResources 108 shown in FIG. 1. In particular, as depicted in FIG. 3, afirst entry includes Location Data 302, Supplemental Data 304 and theparticular Logic Resource 306 associated with the calculation orgeneration of Identity Risk Values 216 in FIG. 2. The Location Data 302is comprised of particular Locations 308 and Weighting Factors 310 forthose Locations 308 associated with a particular Logic Resource 306. TheLocations 308 (e.g. MSCID, CID, CC, NDC, LAC, GPS or some other derivedlocation type) are locations associated with a Wireless Device ID (e.g.MDN) 204 as shown in FIG. 2 corresponding to a financial transaction andobtained via the payment network 118 or other telephone directorynumbers associated with a financial institution account holder profile116 in FIG. 1, associated with some financial transaction requiring anIdentity Risk Value 216 in FIG. 2 for utility, such as for detectingidentity theft and financial fraud. The Weighting Factors 310 are usedto provide a relative value of the importance of a particular Location308 used for a particular Logic Resource 306. The values of theseWeighting Factors 310 may be changed automatically based upon thedistance and time variances among any of the location and timeparameters used. This enables the Wireless Network Data Logic Resources108 shown in FIG. 1 to provide identity risk values indicating alikelihood of identity theft or financial fraud for a particularfinancial transaction associated with an Account Number 202 associatedwith a Wireless Device ID (e.g. MDN) 204 as shown in FIG. 2. TheSupplemental Data 304 is comprised of particular Data Types 312 andWeighting Factors 314 for those Data Types 312 associated with aparticular Logic Resource 306. The Data Types 312 (e.g. subscriptionage, subscription pre-paid, subscription post-paid, porting history,subscriber name, status or some other data type) are supplementarysubscription data associated with a Wireless Device ID (e.g. MDN) 204 inor other telephone directory numbers associated with a financialinstitution account holder profile 116, associated with some financialtransaction requiring an Identity Risk Value 216 for utility, such asfor detecting identity theft and financial fraud. The Weighting Factors314 are used to provide a relative value of the importance of aparticular Data Type 312 used for a particular Logic Resource 306. Thevalues of these Weighting Factors 312 may be changed automatically basedupon variances among any of the Carrier Supplemental Data 210 used. Thisenables the Wireless Network Data Logic Resources 108 shown in FIG. 1 toprovide identity risk values indicating a likelihood of identity theftor financial fraud for a particular financial transaction associatedwith an Account Number 202 associated with a Wireless Device ID (e.g.MDN) 204 as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 depicts exemplary entries for one or more exemplary Email DataLogic Resources data 110 shown in FIG. 1. Exemplary Email Data LogicResources (Email Data) 402 are used to provide information and data toLogic Resources 404 that indicate particular data parameters and factorsfor the data parameters used by the Email Data Logic Resources 110 shownin FIG. 1. In particular, as depicted in FIG. 4, a first entry includesEmail Data 402 and the particular Logic Resource 404 associated with thecalculation or generation of Identity Risk Values 216 shown in FIG. 2.The Email Data 402 is comprised of particular IP Addresses 406 andWeighting Factors 408 for those IP Addresses 406 associated with aparticular Logic Resource 404. The IP Addresses 406 (e.g. of thestandard format XX.XX.XX.XX) are IP addresses associated with an EmailAddress 212 associated with a financial transaction and obtained via thepayment network 118 or account holder profile at the financialinstitution 116, associated with some financial transaction requiring anIdentity Risk Value 216 in FIG. 2 for utility, such as for detectingidentity theft and financial fraud. The Weighting Factors 408 are usedto provide a relative value of the importance of a particular IP Address406 used for a particular Logic Resource 404. The values of theseWeighting Factors 408 may be changed automatically based upon thedistance and time variances among any of the derived IP addresslocations and time parameters used enabling the Email Data LogicResources 110 in FIG. 1 to provide accurate identity risk valuesindicating a likelihood of identity theft or financial fraud for aparticular financial transaction associated with an Account Number 202in FIG. 2 associated with an Email Address 212 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary and detailed information and system flowdiagram 500 representing the operation of the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System 100, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. In this exemplary information andsystem flow, an individual may initially invoke manually orautomatically some financial transaction associated with some purchaseof goods or services, or other financial operation using a paymentinstrument associated with a financial account number resulting infinancial transaction information being sent to a payment network 118and being obtained by the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100.

At a step 51, a financial transaction occurs and associated data is sentfrom the payment network 118 to the Transaction Verification andProcessing Module 104 of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100. An account number and optionally aWireless Device ID (e.g. MDN) may be sent autonomously or requestedbased on some other interaction between the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 and the payment network 118 orother payment processing system.

At a step 52, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the account number and optionally the Wireless Device ID 204received from the payment network 118 to the Identity Database 106 forstorage and subsequent use by an appropriate Wireless Network Data LogicResource 108 associated with a particular financial transactionrequiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 53, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104makes a request to the financial institution 116 to obtain accountholder data from the account holder profile. The requested data includesthe MDN and optionally other telephone directory number data associatedwith the account holder corresponding to the provided account number inan example embodiment.

At a step 54, the financial institution 116 passes a Wireless Device ID(e.g. MDN) and optionally other telephone directory number data to theTransaction Verification and Processing Module 104.

At a step 55, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the Wireless Device ID (e.g. MDN) received from the financialinstitution 116 and, if provided by the financial institution 116, othertelephone directory number data associated with the account holder tothe Identity Database 106 for storage and subsequent use by theappropriate Wireless Network Data Logic Resource 108 associated with theparticular financial transaction requiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 56, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN) received from the financialinstitution 116 or received from the payment network 118 to the WirelessDevice Location Module 112 so the Wireless Device Location Module 112can request Location Data 206 from the wireless network 102 pertainingto the Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN). Optionally and additionally,the Wireless Device Location Module 112 may request Carrier SupplementalData 210 (i.e. supplementary subscription data) associated with theprovided Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN) from the wireless network102. If additional mobile telephone directory numbers (e.g. MDNs) werepreviously received from the financial institution account holderprofile 116 in step 54, the Wireless Device Location Module 112 may makeadditional requests to the wireless network 102 to provide Location Data206 for those additional MDNs and optionally additional supplementarysubscription data associated with those additional MDNs.

At a step 57, the wireless network 102 responds to the request forLocation Data 206 pertaining to the Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN)previously provided. The wireless network 102 sends Location Data 206pertaining to the Wireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN) to the WirelessDevice Location Module 112. If the optional Carrier Supplemental Data210 was previously requested by the Wireless Device Location Module 112,the wireless network 102 may send the requested Carrier SupplementalData 210 to the Wireless Device Location Module 112. The Wireless DeviceLocation Module 112 passes the Location Data 206 and CarrierSupplemental Data 210, if provided, for the corresponding requestedWireless Device ID 204 (e.g. MDN) either directly to the IdentityDatabase 106 or indirectly via the Transaction Verification ProcessingModule 104.

At a step 58, if the Location Data 206 and Carrier Supplemental Data 210associated with the Wireless Device ID (e.g. MDN) 204 is passed to theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104, it is then passed to theIdentity Database 106 for storage and subsequent use by the appropriateWireless Network Data Logic Resource 108 associated with a particularfinancial transaction requiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 59, the appropriate data and parameters stored within theIdentity Database 106 and required by the Wireless Network Data LogicResources 108 are passed either directly to the Wireless Network DataLogic Resources 108 or indirectly to the Wireless Network Data LogicResources 108 via the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 tobe used in a calculation to generate an Identity Risk Value for theparticular financial transaction requiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 60, an Identity Risk Value is generated based on the receivedand appropriate data and parameters.

At a step 61, the Identity Risk Value is passed either directly to theIdentity Database 106 or indirectly to the Identity Database 106 via theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104.

At a step 62, if the Identity Risk Value is passed directly to theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104, the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 passes the Identity Risk Value to theIdentity Database 106 for storage and to be used for additionalfinancial transactions requiring that Identity Risk Value.

At a step 63, the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 passesthe Identity Risk Value to the payment network 118 or other paymentprocessing system for the corresponding financial transaction for whichan Identity Risk Value was originally requested.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary and detailed information and system flowdiagram 600 representing the operation of the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System 100, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. In this exemplary information andsystem flow, an individual may initially invoke manually orautomatically some financial transaction associated with some purchaseof goods or services, or other financial operation using a paymentinstrument associated with a financial account number resulting infinancial transaction information being sent to the payment network 118and being obtained by the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100.

At a step 71, a financial transaction occurs and associated data is sentfrom the payment network 118 to the Transaction Verification andProcessing Module 104 of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100. The account number and optionallyan Email Address 212 and/or an IP Address 214 may be sent autonomouslyor requested based on some other interaction between the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100 and thepayment network 118 or other payment processing system.

At a step 72, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the account number, Email Address 212 and/or the IP Address Data214 associated with the financial transaction to the Identity Database106 for storage and subsequent use by the appropriate Email Data LogicResource 110 associated with the particular financial transactionrequiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 73, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104makes a request to the financial institution 116 to obtain account datafrom the account holder profile, and particularly the Email Address 212associated with the account holder corresponding to the provided accountnumber.

At a step 74, the financial institution 116 passes the Email Address 212to the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104.

At a step 75, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the received Email Address 212 associated with the account holderto the Identity Database 106 for storage and subsequent use by theappropriate Email Data Logic Resource 110 associated with the particularfinancial transaction requiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 76, the Transaction Verification and Processing Module 104passes the Email Address 212 to the email service provider 114 torequest IP Address Data 214 from the email service provider 114pertaining to the Email Address 212.

At a step 77, the email service provider 114 responds to the request forIP Address Data 214 pertaining to the Email Address 212 previouslyprovided. The email service provider 114 sends IP Address Data 214pertaining to the Email Address 212 to the Transaction Verification andProcessing Module 104.

At a step 78, the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 passesthe received IP Address Data 214 to the Identity Database 106 forstorage and subsequent use by the appropriate Email Data Logic Resource110 associated with the particular financial transaction requiring anIdentity Risk Value.

At a step 79, the appropriate data and parameters stored within theIdentity Database 106 that are required by the Email Data LogicResources 110 are passed either directly to the Email Data LogicResources 110 or indirectly to the Email Data Logic Resources 110 viathe Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 to be used in acalculation to generate an Identity Risk Value for the particularfinancial transaction requiring an Identity Risk Value.

At a step 80, an Identity Risk Value is generated based on the receivedand appropriate data and parameters.

At a step 81, the Identity Risk Value is passed either directly to theIdentity Database 106 or indirectly to the Identity Database 106 via theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104.

At a step 82, if the Identity Risk Value is passed directly to theTransaction Verification Processing Module 104, the TransactionVerification Processing Module 104 passes the Identity Risk Value to theIdentity Database 106 for storage and to be used for additionalfinancial transactions requiring that Identity Risk Value.

At a step 83, the Transaction Verification Processing Module 104 passesthe Identity Risk Value to the payment network 118 or other paymentprocessing system for the corresponding financial transaction for whichan Identity Risk Value was originally requested.

In the various embodiments, an identity risk value is developed. Theidentity risk value is a non-dimensional numerical value correspondingto a probability that a financial transaction of interest is fraudulent.The identity risk value falls within a predefined numerical range. Forexample, the identity risk value range may be from one to nine hundredninety-nine (1-999) where a low identity risk value may indicate thatthe financial transaction of interest is likely not fraudulent, and ahigh identity risk value may indicate that the financial transaction ofinterest is likely to be fraudulent (or vice versa). Furthermore, theidentity risk value may be a binary value that may simply indicate thata financial transaction of interest is more likely fraudulent than not(or vice versa). Any suitable identity risk value range may be used todefine the relative probability of a determined identity risk value.

In some embodiments, the identity risk value is determined based upon astatistical correlation among one or more indicators of wireless devicelocation, supplementary subscription data associated with a wirelessdevice, IP address location and data that may be derived from othertelephone directory numbers associated with a financial account holderas related to the financial transaction of interest. Exemplaryindicators of wireless device location, supplementary subscription dataassociated with a wireless device, IP address location and data that maybe derived from other telephone directory numbers associated with afinancial account holder are described herein. Thus, the identity riskvalue provides the result of indicating a statistical relevantprobability that the financial transaction of interest is likely, or isnot likely, to be fraudulent.

Embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 generate the identity risk value usingstatistical correlation processes and methods. The wireless network andtelecommunications data and information relative to the financialtransaction of interest, are statistically analyzed such that theidentity risk value is generated, thereby indicating a value that isindicative of the probability that the financial transaction of interestis fraudulent or valid. Any suitable statistical correlation processand/or method may be used to determine the identity risk value, and isnot described herein in greater detail for brevity. However, a methodsuch as assigning values between 0 and 999 to each obtained or deriveddata variable, providing a weighting factor to each data variable andaveraging the values based on the weighting may be used, for example.

FIGS. 7 and 8 depict flow charts of methods 700 and 800, respectively,disclosing algorithms describing operation of an exemplary embodiment ofthe Mobile Directory Number and Email Verification System 100. The flowmethods 700 and 800 show the architecture, functionality, and operationof a possible implementation of the software for implementing the MobileDirectory Number and Email Verification System 100. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, whichcomprises one or more executable instructions for implementing thespecified logical function(s). It should also be noted that in somealternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occurout of the order noted in FIG. 7, may include additional functions,and/or may omit some functions. For example, two blocks shown insuccession in FIG. 7 or in FIG. 8 may in fact be executed substantiallyconcurrently, the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order,or some of the blocks may not be executed in all instances, dependingupon the functionality involved. All such modifications and variationsare intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure.

The process of FIG. 7 starts at a block 702. At a block 704, acommunication request is received from the payment network 118 thatincludes an account number used to identify an account related to afinancial transaction and a unique identifier used to identify theaccount holder's wireless device 124. In various embodiments, the uniqueidentifier representing an entity's wireless device 124 may be an MDN orother identifier that uniquely identifies the wireless device 124.Accordingly, the identity of the wireless device 124 of interest istherefore associated with a person of interest.

At a block 706, wireless network data is obtained from the home networkof the account holder's wireless device 124 via the wireless network102. The wireless network data represents information pertaining to theaccount holder's wireless device 124 and is determinable based upon theunique identifier of the account holder's wireless device 124. Therequest for information is made to the network using an appropriatecommunications protocol, communicated via the wireless network 102. Therequest is based upon the unique identifier of the account holder'swireless device 124. For example, various wireless device locationand/or wireless device supplementary subscription data is stored withinthe wireless network 102 serving the wireless device 124. In response tothe request for data, information pertaining to the wireless device 124is provided to the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100.

At a block 708, a communication request is made to the financialinstitution 116 to request data associated with the financial accountpertaining to an account holder identified by the account numberprovided in the request. The request for data is made to the financialinstitution 116 using an appropriate communications protocol. Therequest is based upon the account number associated with the accountholder. For example, various account holder data is stored within thefinancial institution account holder profile 116 associated with theaccount number.

At a block 710, account holder data is obtained from (and/or in responseto the communications request to) the account holder profile at thefinancial institution 116 associated with the provided account number.The data represents information pertaining to the account holder'saccount, and in particular, MDN(s) and other telephone directory numbersassociated with the account. In response to the request for data,information pertaining to the account holder is provided to the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100.

At a block 712, an identity risk value is generated based on thewireless network data and the financial institution account holder data.The process of FIG. 7 ends at block 714.

The process of FIG. 8 starts at a block 802. At block 804, acommunication request is received from the payment network 118 thatincludes an account number used to identify an account related to afinancial transaction and an email address and/or IP address dataassociated with the financial transaction. Accordingly, the emailaddress and/or IP address data of interest is therefore associated witha person of interest.

At a block 806, a communication request is made to the financialinstitution 116 to request data associated with the financial accountpertaining to an account holder identified by an account number providedin the request. The request for data is made to the financialinstitution 116 using an appropriate communications protocol. Therequest is based upon the account number associated with the accountholder. For example, various account holder data is stored within theaccount holder profile at the financial institution 116 associated withthe account number.

At a block 808, account holder data is obtained from (and/or in responseto the communications request to) the account holder profile at thefinancial institution 116 associated with the provided account number.The data represents information pertaining to the account holder'saccount, and in particular, email address(es) associated with theaccount. Preferably, the received account holder data is not availablefrom other sources. In response to the request for data, informationpertaining to the account holder is provided to the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100.

At a block 810, a communication request is made to the email serviceprovider 114 to request data associated with the email addresspertaining to the account holder that was received from the financialinstitution 116 and/or the payment network 118. The request for data ismade to the email service provider 114 using an appropriatecommunications protocol. The request is based upon the email addressassociated with the email account. For example, various email accountdata is stored within the account holder profile at the email serviceprovider 114 associated with the email address.

At a block 812, IP address data is obtained from (and/or in response tothe communications request to) the email service provider account holderprofile 114 associated with the provided email address. The datarepresents information pertaining to the account holder's email account,and in particular, IP addresses associated with access to the emailaccount. Preferably, the received IP address data is not available fromother sources. In response to the request for IP address data,information pertaining to the email account is provided to the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100.

At a block 814, an identity risk value is generated based on the emailaccount data and the financial institution account holder data. Theprocess of FIG. 8 ends at a block 816.

The generated identity risk value is indicative of whether or not aparticular financial transaction of interest that is associated with awireless device 124 and/or an email address is likely to be fraudulentor valid. Since the identity of the individual attempting to complete afinancial transaction of interest can be associated with the wirelessdevice 124 and/or a particular email address, then the identity riskvalue is indicative of the likelihood of fraud by the individualattempting to complete the financial transaction of interest.

For example, an individual associated with the wireless device 124and/or a particular email address may be attempting to conduct afinancial transaction, such as a purchase using a credit card or debitcard. The generated identity risk value would give an indication ofwhether or not the financial transaction is likely to be valid when theobtained wireless device location data, supplementary subscription dataassociated with the wireless device, IP address location data and/orother data that may be derived from other telephone directory numbersassociated with a financial account holder tend to indicate that theindividual attempting to conduct the financial transaction of interestis the same individual that is associated with the wireless device 124and/or an email address.

In an exemplary embodiment, the multiplicity of location data obtainedby the Mobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System100 pertaining to an MDN (e.g. wireless device 124 location data), othertelephone directory numbers (e.g. CC and NDC location data) and IPaddress data (e.g. IP geographical location data) of a financialtransaction of interest may be used, along with historical location datato determine location patterns pertaining to an individual. By analyzingthese location patterns, and potentially performing a statisticalcorrelation among these location data, the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 may be able to determineirregular or anomalous locations associated with an individualcorresponding to a financial transaction of interest.

As a non-limiting example, for a particular MDN associated with afinancial transaction, a particular email address associated with thefinancial transaction or both, obtained location data may be associatedwith geographic areas around City A and City B. Furthermore, City A maybe separated from City B by some large distance, for example, 1000miles. Obtained wireless device 124 location data may be near City A.Historical wireless device 124 location data may be near City B. Countrycode and national destination code information of a second obtainedtelephone directory number may be associated with City B, implying thatan individual is associated with a telephone number at City B. ObtainedIP address location data pertaining to an obtained IP address may beassociated with City A, implying that email account access has occurrednear City A. When a financial transaction of interest occurs and is sentform the payment network 118 to the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100, the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 may determine that emailaccount access relating to an individual associated with the financialtransaction has occurred near City A within the past one hour of thefinancial transaction occurring. Further, the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System 100 may determine that thewireless device 124 identified with the individual associated with thefinancial transaction was near City B within the past one hour of thefinancial transaction occurring. Thus, in this example, the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100 uses astatistical correlation method and/or process to conclude that there isa reasonable probability that the individual is now near City B. Sinceit is statistically reasonable that it could take many hours to fly fromCity A to City B, the identity risk value would indicate a reasonablelikelihood that the financial transaction of interest is invalid orfraudulent.

In some embodiments, the status of an MDN representing the wirelessdevice 124 or other telephone directory numbers may be used to determinethe identity risk value. It is appreciated that in some situations, afraudulent financial transaction may occur in the absence of thewireless device 124 (which is tantamount to the wireless device 124being inactive, or “off”). If the state of the wireless device 124 isactive (the wireless device 124 is “on”), the Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System 100 may then statisticallyconclude that there is a reasonable probability that the financialtransaction of interest is likely to be valid (since the wireless device124 is in an active state). On the other hand, the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100 may statisticallyconclude that there is a reasonable probability that the financialtransaction of interest is likely to be fraudulent (if the state of thewireless device 124 is inactive). The state of the wireless device 124may be provided by the wireless network 102 in response to a request forinformation generated by the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100. Furthermore, it is appreciated thatin some situations, a fraudulent financial transaction may occur whenother telephone directory numbers associated with the financialtransaction of interest are obtained by the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100. The Mobile Directory Numberand Email Transaction Verification System 100 may determine that one ormore of these numbers are not in use and associated with the individualcorresponding to the financial transaction of interest. If one or moreof the telephone directory numbers are in use, there may be a nameassociated with the subscription that may or may not be similar to thename associated with the account holder. If any of the obtainedtelephone directory numbers are not in use, or the name associated withany of the obtained telephone directory numbers that are in use for thesubscription of the these numbers, is not similar to the name whencompared to the name associated with the MDN subscription, the names onother telephone directory numbers or the name on the actual financialaccount associated with the financial transaction of interest, theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100may then statistically conclude that there is a reasonable probabilitythat the financial transaction of interest is likely to be invalid. Onthe other hand, the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 may statistically conclude, using the datadiscussed above and optionally other data and parameters obtained andassociated with the financial transaction of interest, that there is areasonable probability that the financial transaction of interest islikely to be valid (if the state of all of the telephone directorynumbers is “assigned” and/or the name associated with all of thetelephone directory numbers is similar to the name when compared to thename associated with the MDN subscription or the name of the financialaccount holder).

In some embodiments, the format of the email address may be used todetermine the identity risk value. If the “local-part” portion of theobtained email address of an individual associated with the financialtransaction has a string of characters that is similar to the name ofthe account holder on the financial account for a financial transactionof interest and/or the name on subscriptions associated with the MDN andother telephone directory numbers, the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100 may statistically conclude, usingthe data discussed above, and optionally other data and parametersobtained and associated with the financial transaction of interest, thatthere is a reasonable probability that the financial transaction ofinterest is likely to be valid. For example, the email address may havethe value “jsmith@gmail.com” where the name on the financial account is“John Smith” and the names on the subscriptions for the MDN and othertelephone directory numbers are “J. Smith,” “John Smith” or the like.Conversely, for example, the email address may have the value“x@xyz.com” where the name on the financial account is “John Smith” andthe names on the subscriptions for the MDN and other telephone directorynumbers are “J. Smith,” “John Smith” or the like. In this case, theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100may statistically conclude, using the data discussed above, andoptionally other data and parameters obtained and associated with thefinancial transaction of interest, that there is a reasonableprobability that the financial transaction of interest is likely to beinvalid as the email address appears to be of an anonymous value, whichmay an indication that the financial transaction of interest isfraudulent.

Similarly, if the “domain” portion of the obtained email address of anindividual associated with a financial transaction has a public andpotentially anonymous value, such as “gmail,” “aol,” “yahoo,” or thelike, the Mobile Directory Number and Email Transaction VerificationSystem 100 may statistically conclude, using the data discussed above,and optionally other data and parameters obtained and associated withthe financial transaction of interest, that the financial transaction ofinterest is more likely to be invalid as these domain name values, thatmay be anonymous, are more associated with fraudulent financialtransactions in general. Conversely, if the “domain” portion of theobtained email address of an individual associated with the financialtransaction has a well-known corporate name associated with more privateemail addresses, such as “ibm,” “boeing,” “apple,” or the like, theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100may statistically conclude, using the data discussed above, andoptionally other data and parameters obtained and associated with thefinancial transaction of interest, that the financial transaction ofinterest is more likely to be valid as these domain name values are moreassociated with legitimate financial transactions in general.

In some embodiments, the time of access to an email account associatedwith an email address related to a financial transaction of interest maybe used to determine the identity risk value. The Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100 may use theobtained email address for the financial transaction of interest andanalyze and process the email address along with additional obtained IPaddress data. Based on this analysis, a probabilistic determination offraud can be made that the IP address data associated with the financialtransaction is fraudulent or not. An example of this processing might bethat the email address provided was accessed from a computer inBellevue, Wash., and one hour later a CNP transaction for the owner ofthe email account was made in Miami, Fla. This could indicate thepossibility of a fraudulent financial transaction. Another example mightbe that the IP address data associated with the transaction emanatedfrom an IP address that was never accessed for the individual's emailaccount. This could also be an indication that the transaction may befraudulent.

In some embodiments, the wireless network and type of wirelesssubscription may be used to determine the identity risk value. Financialfraud and fraudulent activities tend to be associated with pre-paidwireless accounts more often than with post-paid wireless accounts. Thereason for this is that pre-paid wireless subscribers tend to be moretransient and are often times not required to provide any personalinformation to the wireless network to obtain a subscription. Somewireless networks provide pre-paid wireless accounts only tosubscribers, while some wireless networks provide both pre-paid andpost-paid wireless accounts. If the MDN associated with a financialtransaction of interest is associated with a pre-paid account, theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100may statistically conclude and, using the data discussed above, andoptionally other data and parameters obtained and associated with thefinancial transaction of interest, that the financial transaction ofinterest is more likely to be invalid. It is appreciated that serviceprovided from a well known subscription service provider may tend toindicate that the financial transaction of interest is valid. On theother hand, if the subscription service provider is a smallorganization, and/or if the subscription service provider is based in acountry with little to no regulatory oversight or legal enforcement, itis appreciated that such a subscription service provider may tend toindicate that the financial transaction of interest is likely to befraudulent. Accordingly, embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 use the identity of theparticular wireless network operator in determining the identity riskvalue.

In some embodiments, the age of the MDN subscription or other obtainedtelephone directory number subscriptions associated with a financialaccount corresponding to a financial transaction of interest may be usedto determine the identity risk value. Mobile directory numbers (MDNs)and other telephone directory numbers that have been associated with asubscription for the same individual for a very short period of time,such as one month at the time the financial transaction of interest wasperformed, for example, may be associated with transience of theindividual where this transient status may be more indicative of ahigher risk of financial fraud. If the MDN and/or other telephonedirectory numbers relating to a financial transaction of interest havebeen associated with a subscription for a short period of time, theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100may statistically conclude, using the data above and optionally otherdata and parameters obtained and associated with the financialtransaction of interest, that the financial transaction of interest ismore likely to be invalid. Conversely, if the MDN and/or other telephonedirectory numbers relating to the financial transaction of interest havebeen associated with a subscription for a long period of time, forexample, one year or longer, the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100 may statistically conclude, usingthat information and optionally other data and parameters obtained andassociated with the financial transaction of interest, that thefinancial transaction of interest is more likely to be valid.

Recent regulatory provisions allow an individual to retain their currentmobile directory number if the individual changes their wireless networksubscription service provider. In some embodiments, the service historyof the entity's current mobile directory number, and potentially otherobtained telephone directory numbers, is obtained from the wirelessnetwork. It is appreciated that a criminal engaging in fraudulentactivities may frequently change their subscription service provider inan effort to avoid detection by legal enforcement agencies. In contrast,an honest citizen is more likely to retain their service provider for along period of time. Accordingly, it is appreciated that a service, orporting, history demonstrating frequent and reoccurring changes todifferent subscription service providers may be associated with criminalactivity and that the financial transaction of interest is likely to befraudulent. On the other hand, it is appreciated that a historydemonstrating a long duration of service from a single subscriptionservice provider may tend to indicate that the financial transaction ofinterest is valid. Accordingly, embodiments of the Mobile DirectoryNumber and Email Transaction Verification System 100 consider theservice history of the wireless device 124, and other telephonedirectory numbers, in determining the identity risk value.

In some embodiments, the subscribed features such as call-forwarding,for example, associated with the MDN wireless network subscription orother obtained telephone directory number subscriptions, relating to afinancial account corresponding to a financial transaction of interestmay be used to determine the identity risk value. It is appreciated thata criminal engaging in fraudulent financial transactions is more likelyto subscribe to a relatively inexpensive subscription service and thatan honest citizen is more likely to subscribe to a premium subscriptionservice. Accordingly, the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 may statistically conclude that there is areasonable probability that the financial transaction of interest islikely to be valid when the wireless device 124 is receiving a premiumsubscription service. On the other hand, the Mobile Directory Number andEmail Transaction Verification System 100 may statistically concludethat there is a reasonable probability that the financial transaction ofinterest is likely to be fraudulent if the wireless device 124 has beenreceiving an inexpensive subscription service.

In an example embodiment, the above-described wireless device locationindicia, wireless device supplementary subscription indicia, telephonedirectory number indicia, email address indicia and IP address indiciaobtained by the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 in response to a request for information fromembodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 are used to determine the identity risk valueusing a suitable statistical correlation process and/or method.Embodiments may determine the identity risk value using one or more ofthe above-described indicia. Weighting may be used to adjust therelevance of particular indicia when the identity risk value isdetermined. Embodiments may selectively pick available indicia forconsideration when the identity risk value is determined.

Further, other available supplementary information may also beconsidered when the identity risk value is determined. For example, aremote source may provide a credit history, billing history or the likethat is considered when the identity risk value is determined.

FIG. 9 depicts an exemplary computer system 122 of an embodiment of theMobile Directory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100.The computer system 122 includes at least one processor 1222, at leastone memory component 1224 in signal communication with the processor1222, and at least one communications interface 1226 in signalcommunication with the processor 1222. The processor 1222, the memorycomponent 1224, and the communications interface 1226 arecommunicatively coupled to a communication bus 1228, thereby providingconnectivity between the above-described components. In alternativeembodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100, the above-described components may becommunicatively coupled to each other in a different manner. Forexample, one or more of the above-described components may be directlycoupled to the processor 1222, or may be coupled to the processor 1222via intermediary components (not shown). Further, additional components(not shown) may be included in alternative embodiments of the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100.

The memory component 1224 may be any suitable memory device or system.Depending upon the embodiment, the memory component 1224 may be adedicated memory system, may be part of another component or system,and/or may be a distributed memory system. The memory component 1224 mayalso include other logic, modules and/or databases not illustrated ordescribed herein.

In the context of this disclosure, the memory component 1224 is acomputer-readable medium that is an electronic, magnetic, optical, orother another physical device or means that contains or stores acomputer and/or processor program. The computer-readable medium can be,for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette(magnetic, compact flash card, secure digital, or the like), a randomaccess memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM, EEPROM, or Flash memory), an optical fiber, anda portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Note that thecomputer-readable medium, could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program associated with logic is printed, as the programcan be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of thepaper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwiseprocessed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in adevice such as another memory component in signal communication with theprocessor 1222.

The communications interface 1226 is illustrated and described herein asa single component that is configured to communicate with the wirelessnetwork 102. Also, the communications interface 1226 is illustrated anddescribed as being configured to communicate with the financialinstitution 116. Further, the communications interface 1226 isillustrated and described as being configured to communicate with theemail service provider 114. Additionally, the communications interface1226 is illustrated and described as being configured to communicatewith the payment network 118 that provides a request for informationpertaining to the likelihood that a financial transaction of interest isvalid.

It is appreciated that the communications interface 1226 may becomprised of a plurality of communication devices that act incooperation so that embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and EmailTransaction Verification System 100 are able to access the variousentities described herein. Further, the wireless network 102 may be adifferent system than a wireless network associated with networksupplemental information system 126. Accordingly, the variouscommunication devices of the communications interface 1226 may bedifferent from each other so as to support communications over a varietyof different networks that may be using different communication formats.

Embodiments of the Mobile Directory Number and Email TransactionVerification System 100 are configured to concurrently process aplurality of requests to verify that a plurality of different financialtransactions of interest are valid. The plurality of requests mayoriginate from the same payment network 118. That is, it is likely thata large payment network 118, such as a bank or credit card company, willbe concurrently conducting many different financial transaction ofinterest with different customers. Further, embodiments of the MobileDirectory Number and Email Transaction Verification System 100 may beconfigured to concurrently process the plurality of communicationsrequests and responses for information from many different systems. Thatis, embodiments are configured to concurrently request and respondfrom/to different systems, such as multiple payment networks 118,multiple wireless networks 102, multiple financial institutions 116 andmultiple email service providers 114.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, as noted above, many changes can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope ofthe invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferredembodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely byreference to the claims that follow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by atransaction verification processing module and from a computer, anaccount number associated with a user and a first wireless device IDassociated with the computer; storing, by the transaction verificationprocessing module, the first wireless device ID in an identity database;sending, by the transaction verification processing module and over afirst network, a query including the account number from the transactionverification processing module to an institution; receiving, by thetransaction verification processing module and over the first network, asecond wireless device ID at the transaction verification processingmodule from the institution in response to the query; storing, by thetransaction verification processing module, the second wireless deviceID in the identity database; passing, by the transaction verificationprocessing module, the second wireless device ID to a wireless devicelocation module, which communicates with a wireless network to obtainlocation data pertaining to the second wireless device ID; receiving, bythe transaction verification processing module, the location datapertaining to the second wireless device ID from the wireless devicelocation module; storing, by the transaction verification processingmodule, the location data in the identity database; receiving, by thetransaction verification processing module, a first e-mail address and afirst IP address from the computer at the transaction verificationprocessing module; storing, by the transaction verification processingmodule, the first e-mail address in the identity database; passing, bythe transaction verification processing module, the first e-mail addressand the account number to the institution; receiving, by the transactionverification processing module and over the first network, a seconde-mail address from the institution; storing, by the transactionverification processing module, the second e-mail address in theidentity database; passing, by the transaction verification processingmodule, the second e-mail address to an e-mail service provider;receiving, by the transaction verification processing module, a secondIP address associated with the second e-mail address; storing, by thetransaction verification processing module, the second IP address in theidentity database; assigning a first weighting factor of a set ofweighting factors based on a number of common parameters between thefirst wireless device ID and the second wireless device ID, each of theset of weighting factors indicative of a relative likelihood of atransaction being fraudulent; assigning a second weighting factor of theset of weighting factors based on a proximity between the first wirelessdevice and the second wireless device provided in the location data;assigning a third weighting factor of the set of weighting factors basedon a number of common parameters between the first IP address and thesecond IP address; assigning a fourth weighting factor of the set ofweighting factors based on a number of common parameters between thefirst e-mail address and the second e-mail address, wherein the identityrisk value is generated using a combination of each of the set ofweighting factors; and generating, by the transaction verificationprocessing module, an identity risk value based on the set of weightingfactors; sending, by the transaction verification processing module, theidentity risk value to the computer.
 2. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: receiving at least one additional wireless device IDassociated with the account number from the institution, whereingenerating the identity risk value is also based on the at least oneadditional wireless device ID.
 3. The method according to claim 2,further comprising presenting an authorization indicator to acomputerized device based on whether the transaction was authorized. 4.The method according to claim 1, wherein the transaction is authorizedor declined based on the identity risk value.
 5. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the identity risk value is determined based on aplurality of data types, the plurality of data types including thecomparison between the first wireless device ID and the second wirelessdevice ID, and wherein each data type of the plurality of data types isassociated with a weighting factor.
 6. The method according to claim 5,wherein the weighting factor is dynamic.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the identity risk value corresponds to a probabilitythat the transaction is fraudulent.
 8. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: sending, over a second network, a first requestincluding the first wireless device ID to the wireless device, thewireless device storing first wireless device data associated with thefirst wireless device ID; receiving, over the second network, the firstwireless device data from the wireless device; sending, over the secondnetwork, a second request including the second wireless device ID to thewireless device, the wireless device storing second wireless device dataassociated with the second wireless device ID; and receiving, over thesecond network, the second wireless device data from the wirelessdevice, wherein the identity risk value is further generated based on acomparison between the first wireless device data and the secondwireless device data.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein thefirst wireless device data and the second wireless device data includewireless network supplementary subscription data.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the first wireless device data includesfirst wireless device location data and the second wireless device dataincludes second wireless device location data.
 11. The method accordingto claim 10, wherein the identity risk value is determined based on aplurality of data types, the plurality of data types including thecomparison between the first wireless device ID and the second wirelessdevice ID and the comparison between the first wireless device data andthe second wireless device data, wherein each data type of the pluralityof data types is associated with a weighting factor, and wherein theweighting factor is based upon at least one of a distance variance and atime variance among the first wireless device location data and thesecond wireless device location data.
 12. A computerized verificationsystem comprising: one or more processors, and one or morenon-transitory computer readable media coupled to the one or moreprocessors, the one or more non-transitory computer readable mediacomprising code, executable by the processor, to perform the steps of:receiving, by a transaction verification processing module and from acomputer, an account number associated with a user and a first wirelessdevice ID associated with the computer; storing the first wirelessdevice ID in an identity database; sending, over a first network, aquery including the account number from the transaction verificationprocessing module to an institution; receiving, over the first network,a second wireless device ID at the transaction verification processingmodule from the institution in response to the query; storing the secondwireless device ID in the identity database; passing the second wirelessdevice ID to a wireless device location module, which communicates witha wireless network to obtain location data pertaining to the secondwireless device ID; receiving the location data pertaining to the secondwireless device ID from the wireless device location module; storing thelocation data in the identity database; receiving a first e-mail addressand a first IP address from the computer at the transaction verificationprocessing module; storing the first e-mail address in the identitydatabase; passing the first e-mail address and the account number to theinstitution; receiving, over the first network, a second e-mail addressat the transaction verification processing module from the institution;storing the second e-mail address in the identity database; passing thesecond e-mail address to an e-mail service provider; receiving a secondIP address associated with the second e-mail address; storing the secondIP address in the identity database; assigning a first weighting factorof a set of weighting factors based on a number of common parametersbetween the first wireless device ID and the second wireless device ID,each of the set of weighting factors indicative of a relative likelihoodof a transaction being fraudulent; assigning a second weighting factorof the set of weighting factors based on a proximity between the firstwireless device and the second wireless device provided in the locationdata; assigning a third weighting factor of the set of weighting factorsbased on a number of common parameters between the first IP address andthe second IP address; assigning a fourth weighting factor of the set ofweighting factors based on a number of common parameters between thefirst e-mail address and the second e-mail address, wherein the identityrisk value is generated using a combination of each of the set ofweighting factors; generating an identity risk value based on the set ofweighting factors; and sending the identity risk value to the computer.13. The computerized verification system of claim 12, wherein the stepsfurther comprise: receiving at least one additional wireless device IDassociated with the account number from the institution, whereindetermining the identity risk value is also based on the at least oneadditional wireless device ID.
 14. The computerized verification systemof claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: presenting anauthorization indicator to a computerized device based on whether thetransaction was authorized.